Alaska lawmakers push back against attorney general’s position on out-of-state abortion records

Fourteen Alaska state legislators sent a letter Wednesday to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services opposing the position of Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor, who last month joined 18 other Republican-led states in favoring a policy that would allow law enforcement to access information on abortions obtained by residents across state lines.

Taylor signed a letter last month to Secretary Xavier Becerra opposing a proposed rule that would ban states from gaining access to records pertaining to abortion and other reproductive health care.

The proposed rule came as 15 states have outlawed abortion access in most cases, pushing many Americans to travel to other states to obtain the procedure.

Alaska is not one of those states; abortion remains legal and protected under the state constitution. That has not stopped Taylor from repeatedly aligning with states that have banned abortion access in opposing federal regulations that would protect abortions where they are still available and make them easier to obtain.

[Alaska attorney general wants states to have access to out-of-state abortion records]

Earlier this year, several Alaska lawmakers wrote to a Walgreens executive asking her to ignore a letter signed by Taylor calling on the drugstore not to carry abortion drugs in Alaska, despite the fact that no state law explicitly limits drugstores from carrying the medication.

In the letter sent Wednesday, seven House Democrats, three House independents, three Senate Democrats and one Senate Republican wrote to Becerra, essentially asking him to ignore the letter signed by Taylor and other Republican attorneys general, and urging him to adopt the proposed rule “strengthening the rights of individuals under HIPAA to further protect the privacy of individuals seeking reproductive health care across state lines.”

The lawmakers did not mention Taylor in their letter, but wrote they “are aware several state attorneys general oppose this executive action.”

Sen. Cathy Giessel, a South Anchorage Republican, was the only GOP member to sign the letter from lawmakers. Giessel said she was “stunned” when she first learned of Taylor’s position.

“Health information is about the closest personal property that anyone has,” said Giessel. “We’re all Americans and personal property is a key right that we all hold.”

Giessel said she personally is opposed to abortion but doesn’t want to impose her values on other people. “I’m pro-life, but this crosses a line,” she said.

The rationale provided in Taylor’s letter for sharing personal medical information pertaining to abortions and other procedures was “inadequate,” she said.

Taylor said in an email Tuesday that he had signed the letter to preserve “states’ rights in the face of federal overreach,” despite the fact that he had no intention of seeking Alaskans’ medical records for abortions performed legally. According to Giessel, that meant he wasn’t focused on the needs of Alaskans in signing the letter.

“Why is he engaging in other states’ business?” said Giessel. “He’s in that role to be the attorney for Alaska’s citizens.”

“He’s acting more — it feels to me — like the attorney general for the people of other states or the administrations of other states,” she added.

Taylor was appointed to the role of attorney general by Gov. Mike Dunleavy in January 2021. Asked if Dunleavy, a Republican, had approved of Taylor’s letter, the governor’s spokespeople did not respond.